GPU Core Clock Rate

GPU Effective Memory Clock Rate

GPU Temperature While Idle

GPU Temperature Under Load

Description

I'm calling this build, Tru Blood 2.0: A Plexi Refit. It's a refitting of my Project Tru Blood build from 2017. If you wish to see that build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/468Ycf

This is my second build doing a water cooling loop, and my first using PETG. Not gonna lie, I messed up alot in the beginning! I Went through 3 500mm tubes before getting the hang of bending.

But, before I get further into that, let me introduce you to the new components.

I choose the Fractal Design Define R6 TG Gunmetal. Oy, I think all my future cases will be Fractal Design from now on. I originally wanted the Meshify C, I think that front panel is soooooooo awesome, but I went with the R6 because of the rad space. AMAZING CASE!

For the CPU, I went with coffeelake this time, using the ASUS Maximus X Code motherboard and the i7 8700K. and added a 850 EVO Pro only 512gb (its from a Atomos Ninja Inferno).
Recycled components from Project Tru Blood is 32gb of the 3333mhz Corsair Dominator ram, as well as the Samsung 960 EV0 1TB M.2. Also of course, I kept the Nvidia 1080TI FE's.

Heres when things got whacky...

With my previous experience from Project Tru Blood's temps, I felt that the 360 PE and 240 PE radiators might not be enough in the Plexi Refit, so I initially purchased a 360 SE from EK, only because I thought a 360 PE wouldn't fit. Well, Not only did it fit, but I found out that you can fit 2 360 PE radiators in this thing! The original idea was to reuse the 360 PE with the 360 SE, but since learning about this, I just had to purchase another 360 PE because if I'm going all out (again) with this thing, I'm not going to settle this time!

While researching other R6 builds, I noticed some builders had to take off the rear exhaust fan to be able to keep the front ports at top. You could keep the exhaust by mounting the front ports to the bottom, but the case is designed for the front rad to be top ports, meaning the top fan screw holes didn't align up when going with bottom ports. But I was determined to keep the exhaust fan so I went with mounting the bottom ports in the front and you know what, its not bad, you don't really need the top screws mounted. Its still pretty sturdy, even bleeding isn't that bad!

Moving right along, I added some new water cooling components. I have been drooling over Singularity Computers Protium reservoirs and the Ethereal mounts. They look soooooo clean and minimalist and the thought of the plexi version looked like heaven, ohhhh my! Uh anyways, so I purchased them without any hesitation.

I went with EK fittings again as well as EK PETG tubes, 16mm. I was just about ready, so I started planning/designing the loop. But I had a delimma, part of my theory was to have a long tube run from the cpu out to the front radiator, but since the port is now on the bottom, I feared EK's 500mm tube wouldn't be long enough. So I bought some 1 meter tubes from Bitspower. Actually I had to buy a 4 pack cause thats all Titan Rig had, also I probably would messed it up again so thats an excuse, right?

Anyways, I kept thinking about that plexi, and thought, "you know what? My cpu block is plexi, my reservoir pump top is plexi, why not make the whole theme plexi?!" So I ordered EK GPU Serial Plexi blocks. Oh, and you might not notice this, but EK makes some Plexi LED plugs. I had two spare from the last build so I plugged them into the Protium quad top just to see what it looked like, and ohhhh my!!!!! $$ a whole bunch more, adding them to the gpu blocks and all the free Protium ports.

I was so ready to build this motha, but then I panicked! I thought about the Dominator ram, hearing horror stories about it not fitting with most top rads. I had forgotten about all that in the excitement of the build. So that, and the idea that what if I've gotten my damn measurements wrong and the 2 360 PE's end up not fitting was nerve racking!

I had the top 360 radiator mounted on the tray and was ready to go. I lifted the rad, and carefully fitted it within the slots and lowered into the case. I cringed, I was so sure that I was about to feel something stop, preventing the radiator from moving any further. But to my surprise, it was in! The radiator had sat flushed! Literally about 3 mm clearance from the rads to the ram. I got up, walked around the house yelling in celebration! I quickly came back and looked towards the front of the case and checked the clearance to the front radiator. 1mm (maybe not even 1) clearance on the top radiator, and rear exhaust fan. Woo hoo!!!!

Now that, that was out of the way, onward to the bending!!!

FAIL, I messed up 3 times, causing bubbles, warps, mis measurments, you name it. Fail! I would either keep it in heat too much or not enough and cause imperfections. I had no choice but to move on to the next tube. By the time tried the third tube I felt like maybe I was in over my head. I even thought for a second about switching back to soft tubing.

So I took the rest of the day off to gather my thoughts and would try again tomm.

I got inspired by a youtuber by the name of Vir1lity PC Customs. He had created a wooden framework to help with nearly perfect bends, so I devised my own and boy it worked alright. Not so bad.

So I started bending all over the place! I became a bending king! Just kidding. Actually, I learned that if you messed up a bend, whether its a kink, or something that you could actually fix it by reheating it. The PETG can sometimes form back into place when heated. I had it done a few times, the section of tube that goes into the cpu had a **** in it, but the reheating smoothed it out!

Anyways the PC was finally built, and it was time to put some new Tru Blood back in. I used Mayhems X1 Blood Red, which of course is not dark enough, so I dropped a bit of Mayhems green dye in until I got the desired darkness and voila, You have Tru Blood! Careful tho, too much green and it will start turning into a murky brown color!

Soooooo let me tell you the temps.

First off this case is so much cooler than the Entho Evolv. Performing stress loads over an hr, and the case was not too hot at all.

Reason being is because I first pushed to 5.0@1.4v just to see if the cpu was capable. OMG Aida 64 went into the 85c - 90c, and I saw it throttle with in the first 5 min. I freaked and shut it off. I thought this wasn't a stable OC. The high temperatures convinced me that I had recieved a huge dud.

I looked to the discord watercooling channel for advice and presented my results. Got quick replies saying, "yep sounds about right", "No matter how much cooling you have, its gonna be hot because of the TIM Intel used", "Always gonna have that kind of temps without deliding", and "You're gonna poke your eye out kid!" okay, maybe not that last quote, but hearing that gave me the confidence to stress test again.

Here it went:

OC 8700K 4.8ghz @ 1.28v / Ram 3200mhz @ 1.35v

Idle
CPU 34c
GPU 28c, 24c,
Ambient 24c

Aida 64 1hr

Max / Avg

1 87c / 70c

2 85c / 70c

3 88c / 72c

4 88c / 72c

5 82c / 66c

6 84c / 68c

Pkg 73c / 68c

And there you have it. Next process is to drain, delid for LM and test again, gotta get to 5.0ghz and above!
But so far, this was a fun as heck build, I love the R6, and my plan is to get another TG window and put it in the back. I like the see through the case kinda theme, makes it look more open ended, Oo like a skeleton!

Okay, so technically this really isn't a refit but more of just a new build. Project Tru Blood has most of its original components, heck its still even in the Enthoo Evolv. Maybe my next build will be to REALLY refit it to the Meshify C. AWWWW that would be awesome!

Anyways, I hope you guys liked the build, apologies for the massive amounts of pictures, I really got carried away this time.

I was also thinking of going for a clear water look, it peaked my interest during the leak test using DI water. I thought maybe this build deserves more of a clear look with all the plexi. What do you guys think, stick with the tru blood, or go clear liquid?

Oh and I forgot to mention that I was able to fit everything in this build WITHOUT any modifications to the case.

Because of the cables you have used I think you should stick with the blood red. I can see its a labour of love well done. Brilliant. My only feedback is despite the great quality of your photos. Less is more...edit them.

Best to link to them for the hardcore that want to see every one. I understand your predicament they are great but suggest 20-30 would be enough...only saying this cos I think many will give up eventually (of old age perhaps!)

Mr. Tight Tolerances! Amazing Build! Very impressive! Dedication and time went into this build and I can only imagine how much troubleshooting you had to go through to get everything where you wanted it. Always fun to run into those unexpected situations where you have to sit back and go "now wait a minute". Ran into that with the Corsair 570X case using an EK SE 240 Rad at the top. Same situation where the Ram or Mobo would almost bud up against each other.

I've always wanted to use custom cable work as well and this one came out awesome! Working with cable management was always a "meh" thing for me in the past though with new cases showing off those sexy angles it's something I'll have to go into for the future.

I totally agree, and sometimes you almost want those challenging moments. I think thats what makes me wanting to build more computers, the "uhhhh, how am I suppose to do this?" and then you totally figure it out and then some!

The cables were recycled from Project Trublood, I had some head scratching about the 24, I mean 26 pin cable. I never understood why Cablemod would leave the outer cable missing.

First time heating up a PETG tube, I was thinking I was way in over my head.

Most definitely finding those head scratching moments add a level of excitement and fear in a custom build. The artisans of our age working with one's own hands. it's very satisfying to put effort and time into a build and just figure things out or venture from your comfort zone a bit to see "will this work?". Even more so rewarding when things work out in the end and you're able to take a moment to take in what you just created. I've worked on the same system ever since 2012 and have had a blast just indulging in my curiosity.

And I think pic 76 is my favorite! Should be moved to #1 lol!
This build is the most beautiful, no nonsense, no rgb or fancy leds to make took good, or anything ....just pure quality! Absolutely AMAZING!!! Congrats on the feature!

well, I can say it's a bloody nice build and job moving from one case to another plus cleaning and disassemble the CPU, GPU blocks. But my question is about the reservoir: How you drain it, is with a ball valve or... what?

I am completely in love with this build! Great job!!! I am currently leaning toward the Define R6 Gunmetal TG as well and many of the ideas you put into this build are what I've been thinking about as well. I do have a question though. With all of the water cooling added to the case, is it possible to not completely remove the wall that originally hid the HDD trays?

Go for the R6 Gunmetal, you will not be disappointed. It is a very very beautiful case functionally.

So you know how you can move the wall to the back of the case by removing the hdd's right? It has 0 effect on the exact setup that I have. The front rad, Protium res and the way its mounted can all be the same. I just kept the wall out because I like the idea that I can see my reservoir from the back of the case. Its soooooo awesome looking!

I was going to get a pure rock slim, I don't have the budget at the moment for a $100+ cooler, the only thing I'm really going to splurge on is the case because I know I would use it for many more years because of the versatility of the R6. It really is an amazing case. I really want an NZXT cooler though because I love that infinity mirror design and could add a lot to my setup.

P.S. I hate how Fractal ships the front panel door in the complete wrong direction.

I just delided, bleeding the liquid now but I just had to power up to see the results. Its about 17-20c lower from before. Definitely seems just like people are saying. Which is awesome! Tho I was hoping to see lower idle temps, which are only 2-5c lower now.

Normally I click through pics like I ready text books (not paying attention at all), but man your build and pics are amazing. I think I'll pick up hard lining for my next build too! Gonna just save this page for experience reference.

Did you have any issues installing the motherboard in this case? I tried to install it but the IO panel won't fully go in. Its slightly off, so as a result the screws are not aligned. Any help would be appreciated it!